The New York Knicks toyed with the very bad, very undermanned Detroit Pistons Tuesday night, and it nearly cost them one of the most pathetic losses in franchise history. Fortunately, the bench is (mostly) back in order, and they turned a 14-point third-quarter deficit into a 94-85. The quintet of Alec Burks, Immanuel Quickley, Miles McBride, Obi Toppin and Taj Gibson played the entire fourth quarter — that’s how poorly the starters performed. You know it had to hurt Tom Thibodeau, who looooves to play his starters.
The first half actually started out the same way, with the starting lineup struggling to find a groove and the bench lifting the Knicks to a comfortable lead before the starters came back in and messed up most of it.